The Changing Times
by Darkstar44044
Summary: Avalice is free of Lord Brevon's corruption, but what remains for our heroes? Old friends of the past come back, but intentions might not be what they seem. They thought life would be easier after his defeat, but that only seemed to be the beginning of their problems. Will their friendship survive this new path? Rated T for later chapters.


_**This is a project I've been thinking about posting for some time, and, well, finally decided to do it. Uploads will be weekly, if i can manage it, and this will be my first time ever posting fanfics of any kind, anywhere. I do hope you all can find enjoyment out of these. Big thanks to my good friend Repentorperish for helping me with revisions and spell checks, i'd probably be doomed without her help.**_

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The moon of Avalice was full against the young, night sky. A week had passed since Spade visited Lilac, still holding his unsolved mysteries. His intentions may have seemed obvious to her, and anyone else that may have known about it. But she could never be sure. These thoughts that pondered Lilac's mind gave her the sudden urge to take an adventurous stroll. She followed the path leading away from her treehouse, in the hopes to see something that wasn't there.

Lilac's little trek came to a stop as she found a familiar-looking cave. It was the same cave that her ancestors had abandoned long ago. Without hesitation, she entered the ancestral home. Inside, the moon offered dim lighting of which the stalactites sparkled. The fluorescence of native plants bend to the its illumination and faded towards the inner sanctuaries of the cave. Lilac took her seat by the calm stream of water, and stared into its depths. Before she could form a thought, a familiar voice startled her back onto her feet."Finally got the courage to ask some questions, huh?"

Her eyes darted towards nobody in the darkness. But when she averted her gaze upwards, she found Spade standing on a jutted rock against the cave wall.

"What? No, that's not…" Lilac's tone shifted to irritation. "Why are you even here? Were you following me?!"

Spade brushed her aside with his hand. "On the contrary, I was here first. Who's barging in on who this time?"

She let out an annoyed sigh and turned back towards the water. "I deserve answers, Spade. For everything."

The sound of his shoes scuffled across the pebbled ground from behind her, but she didn't bother to glance back. Then, the sound silenced from getting any closer to her.

"We all deserve answers for a lot of things. And they're never gained so easily."

She finally turned to catch the smirk in his smugly face. "YOU put these questions on me! I can't answer your problems, but you can answer mine."

Spade pulled a card out of his sleeve, listening with inexpression in his countenance. Lilac could only imagine what was going through his mind.

"I guess…" He said, "You might be right about that. And tell you what, I'll bite. But only if you best me in a fight. Right here. Right now."

Lilac blinked in surprise. It was only his serious expression forming on his face that made her realize he wasn't joking. "I… Spade… The last thing I want to do is fight you. There's no reason for it."

With a shake of his head, he flicked his wrist and fanned out five cards between his fingers. "Then I'd suggest defending yourself." He threw the cards at her.

Lilac dodged, jumping over them, as they struck the wall from behind her. She landed, her eyes darting towards him, but his fist collided into her cheek. She used the direction of the force to spin around and land a hard kick into his chest. Spade stumbled back with a groan.

Lilac recovered her stance, but refrained from advancing. "Please, Spade, I don't want to do this. I don't want any of this!" Her pleas only echoed in the darkness, not seeming to reach his conscience.

Spade pulled out three more cards, taking a step forward. "Then you better run. Nothing's stopping you from avoiding this."

She held her ground, defensively. "I just want answers!"

He folded the cards back into one-fold. "Guess you don't have much of a choice then, huh?!" He charged towards her now, bringing the card down onto her.

She grabbed his wrist, holding him back with all her might. She gritted her teeth, enraged. "You just don't understand!" She raised her knee into him until his body caved in. She slammed him onto his back, restraining his shoulders down with both hands. "I never had a choice! Joining the Red Scarves, fighting to protect Avalice? If I didn't, none of us would be here right now! Brevon would have killed all of us. And here I am again fighting!" Emotion brimmed over her eyes and spilled down her cheeks when they shut. She could feel his resistance halting, but she couldn't resist crying. "I want the fighting to stop… That's all I'm asking."

When Spade saw the tears, he stiffened, uncertain how to respond. It was hard for him to see where she was coming from, considering he had fought most of his life after joining the Red Scarves. After averting his gaze from her momentarily, he managed to move his arm up and wiped a tear from her face. "You've got me on the ground, fair and square. So, let's count this as a win."

A moment of silence passed before Lilac let out a slow exhale of tension, loosened her grip, and removed herself from him to sit up. What were you looking for when you came to me that night? What was the purpose…?"

Sitting across from her, Spade rubbed the back of his head, still sore from hitting the ground. "Well…" He then rested his arms on his knees. "Maybe I'm still trying to figure that out myself, Lilac. It helped though, didn't it? Eased your mind to a degree?"

Lilac couldn't form an answer, still trying to recover from her breakdown. "I… I don't know. Maybe it did? When I split from the Scarves, I lost what we had: our friendship. I thought nothing of it, and maybe… that was a mistake. But did you?"

Spade tilted his head down. The truth should've hurt, but he only felt a tinge of it. "They taught me not to care. Told me it was a weakness. I had to bury everything down… Deep down. Just to survive in the Scarves. I guess with recent events, some things had come back up, making it seem like a mistake." He finally managed to meet her gaze. "Do you… still have the card?"

Lilac snapped back into reality from listening with great intensity. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the card. An ace of spades. It was surprisingly in perfect condition, she thought. "I couldn't really just leave it laying around, or else Carol might've found it and said something. I still haven't told her about your visit. Milla, though, saw everything."

Spade didn't seem to be bothered by this, but a smile spread across his face at the sight of the card. "We've all made mistakes, and I guess I'm no different. And they've all led to worse outcomes. You, on the other hand… Well, you make a mistake and it all comes out good in the end. Fighting for you and your friends was a mistake that put all of them in danger. But in the end, it only secured their safety. Be proud of that."

He then stood up to walk away, but Lilac cut in front of him. "That's thoughtful of you to say, Spade, but it doesn't explain your own actions."

Spade avoided her gaze, slightly peeved that his attempt didn't shake her off the subject. "Things can never be like they were in the Red Scarves for us. We went our separate ways, and I was holding on to what was left. That card… was me giving that to you."

Then, Lilac closed the distance they'd set between them for a long time, resting her hand on his chest with the card in-between them. "And I'm giving it back." She sealed her words with a kiss on his lips, and he'd surrendered with a returned offer.


End file.
